Window II

Location

Country: Singapore
City: Singapore
Place: British High Commission

Made by placing a large piece of paper over a stained glass window, and rubbing it with a pencil, Window II assumes the physical qualities of a sculpture. The pencil graphite creates a metallic, shimmering surface replicating the window leads, while the paper warps under the repeated heavy lines. Barriball’s work is process-led, whereby the method of creation is as important as the subject of the artwork. This approach reveals poetic and magical features in otherwise mundane things within a suburban setting. The blue sky visible through Barriball’s window suggests tranquillity on your doorstep. It offers a response to Sir John Betjeman’s 1973 epic poem Metro-Land that praised and then lamented the passing of a less frenetic age. The term ‘Metro-Land’ was used as a promotional slogan for the Metropolitan Railway between 1915 and 1930, with its promise to transform the lives of Londoners by linking to green suburbs.

Born in Plymouth, Anna Barriball attended the Falmouth School of Art (1991–92), Winchester School of Art (1992–95) and Chelsea College of Art (1999–2000). She has exhibited in the UK and internationally since 1995, with a first two-person exhibition at the Arnolfini, Bristol (2003), followed by a first solo show at Frith Street Gallery, London (2004). Barriball lives and works in London.

Places

Subjects

grid, rectangle, abstract, window

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), pencil, coloured pencil, pencil drawing

Artist

Anna Barriball (1972 - )

Title

Window II

Date

2007

Medium

Pencil and coloured pencil on paper

Dimensions

height: 60.80 cm, width: 67.40 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Frith Street Gallery, October 2007

Provenance

Frith Street Gallery, Frieze Art Fair, London

GAC number

18149